Judge: 5 other accusers can testify at Bill Cosby’s retrial
PHILADELPHIA — A judge agreed Thursday to let five additional Bill Cosby accusers testify at his April 2 retrial for an alleged 2004 sexual assault, giving prosecutors a chance to portray the man once known as “America’s Dad” as a serial predator who made a sadistic habit of drugging and molesting women.
Judge Steven O’Neill said prosecutors could choose the witnesses from a list of eight women with allegations dating as far back as the early 1980s. They include model Janice Dickinson, who said Cosby knocked her out with pills and raped her during a 1982 trip to Lake Tahoe.
Prosecutors, eager to expand the scope of the underlying he-said-she-said case, had pushed to let jurors hear from as many as 19 of the dozens of women who say Cosby assaulted them over a five-decade span.
“We are reviewing the judge’s order and will be making some determinations,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said.